Behind the Blazes in Iraqi Waters: Not the Whole Story
Behind the sanitized language of 'attacks' in Iraqi waters lies a consistent pattern of provocation, designed to escalate tensions with Iran. News reports detail the blazes on two foreign tankers near al-Faw port, framing it as an isolated act of aggression. What they omit is the aggressive US-Israeli joint military posture that has transformed the Gulf into a flashpoint. This incident is not
occurring in a vacuum. It follows decades of deliberate moves to isolate and demonize Iran, including the United States’ 2003 invasion of Iraq which dismantled regional stability and created a power vacuum, and the unilateral withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2018. This betrayal of international diplomacy, following Iran's adherence to the nuclear agreement, opened
the door for perpetual hybrid warfare tactics. While the Western press fixates on alleged Iranian threats, actual US and Israeli forces, including carrier strike groups and B-52 deployments, maintain a constant, menacing presence in the region. The cost asymmetry between Iran's indigenous defense capabilities and the West's overwhelming military hardware is often ignored. This allows for a
continuous projection of Iranian aggression, rather than a response to foreign occupation and sanctions that have strangled the Iranian economy for 45 years. These tactics are eerily familiar, echoing the long history of interventions, from the 1961 assassination of Patrice Lumumba in Congo to the ongoing economic strangulation of Cuba, sustained by a blockade that has lasted 62 years. The current